Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Education: Spotlight Biography Inventors
This site provides information on American inventors Benjamin Franklin, Robert Fulton, Eli Whitney, Thomas Jefferson, Isaac Singer, Wilbur Wright, Thomas Alva Edison, Elias Howe, and Alexander Graham Bell. It offers pictures from and...
PBS
Pbs: Who Made America?: Innovators: Elisha Otis
A biography of the man who invented the elevator.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Bicycle
Take a virtual field trip to the Smithsonian and see its historical collection of bicycles and various bicycle memorabilia. Access to 449 archived items are provided, beginning with the Victory Bicycle from 1886 to present-day bicycles...
Library of Congress
Loc: What in the World Is That?
Can you match the picture to the correct invention? Read about these inventions and the importance of them. Also included are related sites to find further information about each invention.
University of Houston
University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 326: Colonial Women Inventors
Provides information on two Colonial women inventors. This is a transcript of an accompanying radio broadcast.
University of Virginia
University of Virginia: Jefferson as an Inventor
This section of a larger site on Thomas Jefferson discusses his involvement in the development of the patent system. Here, read about Jefferson's committment to science and his role as an inventor.
Other
American Artifacts: The Imaginative Inventor
Just for fun. A website with a list of strange inventions by would-be entrepreneurs. Click on any to see a picture and description of the device.
Enchanted Learning
Enchanted Learning: Inventors & Inventions From the 1700s
Use this site to learn more about early inventors and inventions from the 18th century. This web page offers text and images on various inventors and their inventions. You can also access information about inventors and inventions from...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Leyden Jar
These devices, though quite humble, represented a tremendous breakthrough in the history of electricity; they were the first capacitors, and as such were able to store electric charge. (Java tutorial)
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Mirror Galvanometer
Invented by William Thomson (who later became Lord Kelvin for such clever acts as this), the mirror galvanometer was a useful instrument that played a key role in the history of the telegraph. (Java tutorial)
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Lodge's Experiment
Sir Oliver Lodge's experiment demonstrating the first tunable radio receiver was an important stepping stone on the path toward the invention of a practical radio.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Leyden Jars 1745
Because they could store significant amounts of charge, Leyden jars allowed scientists to experiment with electricity in a way never before possible.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Oscilloscope 1897
From the auto shop to the doctor's office, the oscilloscope is an important diagnostic tool. A mechanic may use an oscilloscope to measure engine function, while a medical researcher uses it to monitor heart activity.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Stanley Transformer 1886
Applying discoveries Michael Faraday had made a few decades earlier, William Stanley designed the first commercial transformer for Westinghouse in 1886.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Michael Faraday
A self-educated man with a brilliant mind, Michael Faraday was born in a hardscrabble neighborhood in London. Through the combination of insatiable curiosity and a powerful will to succeed, he transcended his austere beginnings to...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: James Watt
The Scottish instrument maker and inventor James Watt had a tremendous impact on the shape of modern society. His improvements to the steam engine were a significant factor in the Industrial Revolution, and when the Watt engine was...
Other
Children's British History Encyclopedia: Victorian Discoveries and Inventions
An organized timeline featuring many important inventions and discoveries made in Britain during the Victorian period.
Science Struck
Science Struck: Significant Inventions of the Industrial Revolution
This resource presents a long list of important inventions during the First Industrial Revolutions, organized consecutively from 1701-1839. Includes short descriptions and images. This is followed by a table listing inventions from the...
Science Struck
Science Struck: Inventions of the 1800s
Many modern items were invented in the 1800s. This resource presents a lengthy chronological list of significant inventions from the 1800s and their inventors.
Birmingham Museums Trust (UK)
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery: The Victorians Inventions
Try to identify the inventions form the Victorian era, and then learn more about each discovery.
Project Britain
Primary Homework Help: The Victorians: Inventions
Find out about several major developments that made travel, communications, and trade easier for many people during the Victorian period.
PBS
American Experience: Technology Timeline: 1752 1990
Short descriptions of important technological innovations produced in America and the date of their introduction.
Enchanted Learning
Enchanted Learning: Inventors & Inventions 1801 1850
This site from Enchanted Learning presents several brief overviews of major early nineteenth century inventors and their inventions. The information is accessible by clicking on the corresponding link.
Florida State University
Florida State University: Magnet Lab: Electric Meter 1872
The invention of the light bulb quickly created the need to track people's electricity usage. In 1872, Samuel Gardiner built the first simple power meter: a lamp with an attached clock that recorded the time the light was on.